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Sunday, July 6, 2008

We went to this museum, Wheels O' Time, yesterday. They had 3 barns full of old "stuff" - clocks, cars, machinery, toys, etc. It was really interesting and the adults in our group would like to have spent more time there, but since we had to chase 10 kids who wanted to run through the museum at break-neck speed, that wasn't an option. I could just see Brooklyn or Clayton jumping in a hundred year old Ford model T and somehow managing to drive it through the barn, over typewriters, phonographs, ancient lightbulbs, and 200 year old cuckoo clocks before crashing it through the wall.

A bunch of old cars. Joe was hyperventilating.

An old fashioned washing machine. I guess I shouldn't complain about the 400 loads of laundry I have to do this week...

It could be even worse....

OK, so most of the exhibits were really interesting and there were many hands-on exhibits, but this one was particularly creepy. It's a presidential quartet, of course. I think the presidents were dug up from their graves for this one. (Before you write to tell me - yes, I know they're not all dead, but come on - look at them! It's night of the living dead here!)

Here's the gang minus me and I think only 2 of them were throwing melt-down fits at the time. Not bad.

Just playing with my camera here and making the kids wait for me to take more pictures. They love it when I do that.

OK, so I wrote how the pool had a salty taste. I failed to mention the film of nastiness that was floating on the surface and the layer of crud on the bottom. Then, I noticed this sign outside the pool today."Any person having an infectious or communicable disease is prohibited from using a public pool.Persons having open blisters, cuts, etc. are advised not to use the pool.Spitting, spouting water, blowing the nose, or discharging bodily wastes in the pool is strictly prohibited."Barf. Antibiotics anyone?

And check it out! The happening town of Goodfield, population 700. Yes, that's right. This town has about the same number of people that were in my graduating class! It doesn't get more exciting than this.

This concludes the run-down on my fun-filled camping trip. Until I lose my mind and agree to go camping again...

Are you sure the guys pulled up out of the graves there are former presidents, and not recent campers? 'Cuz I know how I'd look if I'd been camping as long as you have with as many kids (plus or minus) as you have.

Now it's my turn - I ABSOLUTELY HATE CAMPING but I do it once a year...this Friday is the "once a year"

UGH!

70 in-law family members (it's an annual family reunion), 3 days, weird food, a talent show, an auction, rattle snakes, no A/C, no pool, just a muddy creek, bears, toasted marshmallow goo everywhere, no internet access for MILES, about a millionn meltdowns (and more than just mine), no cell phone service, and a PIRATE THEME...

I will be spending the week making 3 lil pirate costumes and packing...

Okay, when you were at the Wheels O' Time Museum you were about 2 miles (if that) from my house. I have never even been there. My son loves to look at the trains as we drive by though. Hope you enjoyed your stay in Peoria this weekend, despite the pool!

Dawn, Isn't this where the Yogi Bear Campground is? Is that where you stayed? When I heard Goodfield I knew that sounded familiar. We stayed at Yogi several years ago. My SIL lives near there. We had a great time!!

Welcome home Dawn, Did you have any troubles with the truck on the drive home? Also was wondering what kind of tent or camper you use for your large family? We would have loved to see pictures of your campsite and the dreaded community toilet- I mean pool. Kristine in Michigan.

Oh, Wheels Of Time...the last time I went there was on a field trip with a summer day camp. I was leading a group of 15 boys ages 5-7. YIKES!! It was insane, or at least that's how I felt after spending a couple of hours there. I guess it was preparation for the stress of motherhood :)

We went on a camping trip in Placerville, CA a couple of summers ago and it was pure hell. Literally 114 degrees all night long. We were staying at a KOA because we needed to do laundry, and while we were waiting for the cycles to be completed we braved the nearby pool hoping it would help us to cool off.

After stepping into what felt like hot bathwater, I just couldn't get past that it was like I was bathing with a bunch of strangers. EWWWW!

The pic with the washtub has an oval copper kettle/bucket in the back. We had 2 of those hanging around the house when I was little. Used to fill one up with the garden hose and sit in it in the summer. Ahhh.

And in the basement, we had an old wooden washer also, but it was manual. Had a handle in the middle of the top, connected to a paddle on the underside that swirled the clothes around. Not sure why it was around, as we were far into the electric age! (60's) Probably something my mom had picked up one day, or perhaps was already there when my parents bought the place. There was a wood cookstove down there also. I loved that basement! House was built in 1832. Michigan basement was turned into a cinder block basement in 1932.

Oh, and I LOOOVE our type of camping. On our up north property, 60 acres of pines and hardwoods, rolling hills. Latrine, haul water in. Rustic and somewhat secluded. Great place for the kids to run around and explore. Did that when I was a kid and now my kids do it.

Are you sure it wasn't a salt-water pool? Salt-water is replacing chlorine, fast and furious :) Also - that sign is posted outside of every single pool I've ever swam in (I'm in Canada... I assume it must be required here). It's funny to me that it shocks so many people! :)

Yikes, you are making me feel VERY old and very bumpkin! My home town (of which I grew up 3 miles outside of) of Sunburg, MN had a whopping 116 people when I lived there. We had to put 3 towns together to get a graduating class of 63. AND, we had a modern day steel version of the wooden laundry number that my mom actually used to wash our clothes. Do you know how long it takes to dry a shirt on a clothesline in a MN winter?! We also had a party line until the mid 70's!

I can beat the population of Goodfield. Gresham is a village in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 575 at the 2000 census. You should have a contest to find THE smallest town.